
(lass 7f C 8 / 
Book ' fl f V - 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



A COMPANION TO 

"Our Household Medicine Case." 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE, 

ESPECIALLY ADAPTED TO DAILY USE IN 
THE HOME. 



TO WHICH IS ADDED IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING THE 



CARE OF INFANTS, TREATMENT OF POISONS, 



AND OTHER VALUABLE FEATURES. 




By ORVILLE W.'OWEN, M. D., 

Late Lecturer on Physiology, Detroit Medical College ; Member American 
Medical Association; Member Michigan Medical Society; Mem- 
ber Detroit Medical and Library Association; Member 
American Microscopical Association; Member 
Griffith Club of Microscopy, Etc., Etc, 

T 8 188?; 

DETROIT, MICH.: 

D E T K. O I T MEDICINE OO. 

1887. 



COPYRIGHT 
DETROIT MEDICINE CO., 

1887. 



PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. 



THE preparation of the present little volume was 
undertaken by the publishers in response to what 
appeared to them a real demand for such a work — 
alike brief, comprehensive, intelligible, cheap, and — so 
far as possible, within what seemed to them the proper 
limits of a work, intended for every-day household use — 
complete. The book, as its title page indicates, is de- 
d for family use, and is such a work as is fre- 
quently to be resorted to in cases of great exigency 
when dispatch is a main consideration, and there is 
little time and inclination for the hazardous delays 
lisite for reading through long pages of learned 
medical discussion — all right in its proper place, 
perhaps, but that place not in a medical adviser and 
guide-book for the laity only. The work is also a com- 
panion (and a key) to "Our Household Medicine Case," 
a package of standard medicines of the greatest purity, 
prepared expressly for us by one of the best and most 
favorably known wholesale drug houses of the West. 
Works bearing the pretentious titles of "Family Phy- 
rfcian," "Domestic Doctor," "Household Medical 

(3) 



4 PUBLISHERS PREFACE. 

Adviser," "Hand Book of Medicine," etc., etc., were 
plentiful enough before, and many, if not most, of these 
possessed merits of their own; but they were and 
are, one and all, voluminous, huge tomes, containing 
the germ of truth within them often, but with such 
envelopement of husk that it lay (and lies) like the tradi- 
tional " needle in the hay stack," so difficult to discover 
that frequently, ere the particular remedy sought was 
found, the patient for whose benefit the search had 
been instituted, had died — or recovered — and (in 
either case, let us hope) gone on his way rejoicing! 
A further difficulty was always found: When the 
symptoms of the patient's complaint had been gather- 
ed, as with a skimmer, from a very dilute and wateiy 
stream of discourse, and the proper remedy had been 
made out, the materials wherewith to compound the 
potion were not at hand, but were at the distant drug 
store! What wonder at the result when, in nine cases 
out of ten, with all the danger and damage — to be 
charged to the profit and loss account — in the end 
the guardians of the poor sufferer, — in whose case 
ominous changes begin to develop during the terrible 
delay, — throw aside the lumbering medical volume with 
a secret anathema upon the heads of its unfortunate 
author and publisher, and hurry at last to the doctor 
whose task has perhaps by this time grown far too 
huge for him ! Then the good doctor arrives: notes 
the patient's symptoms, and decides on the remedies. 



PUBLISHERS PREFACE. •> 

But doctors do not carry a drug store with them, 
and now a second trip — and an expensive one, too, — 
becomes requisite, before which has been completed 
who can compute what valuble moments shall be lost, 
what irreparable and long-to-be-lamented injury may 
often result ! 

The publishers would respectfully request the read- 
.ttention to the following considerations, viz: 

With the present combination of the brief but com- 
prehensive work, couched in the plainest and simplest 
language (so that a child may read and reading may 
understand), with this medicine case filled with all the 
ordinarily used and standard remedies, we furnish you 
bout one-half the usual price demanded for tlie book 
alone (designed to fill but poorly the place our book 
fills so well) both a medical guide-book and the remedies 
prescribed. 

Our book is written by one of the most successful 
and best known of the younger physicians of our 
State, a man thoroughly educated in his profession, 
acquainted with all the remedies and appliances known 
thereto, and withal thoroughly conscientious and 
scrupulously exact in every statement of his pen. 
Hence we claim our work to be simpler, more com- 
plete (although comparatively so brief), cheaper and 
safer than any other extant. 

Our medicines are purer (and hence safer), cheaper, 
and better than can be ordinarily obtained elsewhere, 



6 publishers' preface. 

being prepared expressly for us in large quantities by 
a wholesale house of unexcelled reputation, whose 
sworn statement accompanies every case. 

We claim without fear of successful contradiction 
that with this arrangement we make it wholly practi- 
cable for a large majority of the cases of incipient disease 
that arise to be promptly handled and cured by strictly 
home management, whereby great pain and anxiety 
will be avoided, vast pecuniary expense spared, yea, 
and which will often result in the saving of life! 

The public everywhere who have tested our system 
are cheerfully giving in their testimony to its inestim- 
able value, and many intelligent persons have gone 
so far as to declare that the beneficent thought in 
which it originated was a real inspiration ! 



AT TIIGirS INTRODUCTION. 



The author makes no apology for placing this little 
book and accompanying medicine case before the public. 
He believes it is a necessity in every household in the 
land. It has been written not for the profit arising from 
tie, but for the purpose of teaching the people how 
to treat and doctor the common diseases of every day 
life: to accomplish this no technical terms or medical 
words have been used, but only plain, old-fashioned 
English. All the remedies are standard ones and are put 
up under the author's own personal supervision, and are 
;i- tasteless as it is possible to make them. Where 
whisky, brandy or other liquors are prescribed they are 
the only stimulants which could be used, and they would 
have most certainly been left out if any other remedy or 
remedies could have been substituted. 

In conclusion, if this little volume with its compan- 
ion medicine case, shall cure but one who is sick, or 
alleviate one painful symptom, or help some mother 
to save her loved child, then its work will have been 
accomplished and its end obtained, and if it does as 
much good to those who buy it as it has given pleas- 
ure to the author in its writing, tnen I say unto it, 
God speed, and send it on its way rejoicing. 

ORVILLE W. OWEN, M. D., 

22 Lafayette Avenue. 
July 15, 1886. 

an 



SPECIAL NOTICE. 



OUR facilities enable us to furnish all varieties of 
Standard Drugs and Medicines, in solid form (by 
mail, postpaid, to any part of the United States), on 
request, at unusually low rates. Orders by mail solicited. 
Particularly are we desirous of replenishing, when low, 
the stock of family remedies we furnish the purchasers 
of "Our Household Medicine Case" and this little 
book, for we are solicitous that this store shall be kept 
up from pure and reliable medicines, as we guarantee 
they shall be if obtained of us. 

DETROIT MEDICINE CO., 

22 Lafayette Ave., Detroit, Mich. 



(8) 



This Book is Respectfully Dedicated 

to THE 

Faithful Wives and Mothers of This Country, 

With a Heartfelt "Wish for their 

Welfare, 

by 

THE AUTHOR 



(9) 



OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 



THE NORMAL OR HEALTHY CON- 
DITION. 

Temperature, 98 Y z by fever thermometer; pulse, adult, 
7*2 per minute; new born, 124 to 160 per minute; 1st 
month to close of 3d month, 112 to 148 per minute; close 
of 3d month to close of 6th month, 112 to 146 per min- 
ute: from 6th month to close of 1st year, 112 to 144 per 
minute; from close of 1st to 3d year, 90 to 112. 

RESPIRATION OR BREATHING. 

1st week, 52; 1st month, 59; 2d and 3d months, 51; 3d 
to 6th months, 50; 6th month to 1 year, 41. All these 
are per minute. The adult breathes about 18 times per 
minute. 

BRONCHITIS. 

Symptoms : — Sneezing, running at the nose, head- 
ache, flushed face, fever, fast pulse, (120 per minute or 
more) slight cough which increases, fretfulness, loss of 
appetite, fast breathing, spittle frothy and sometimes 
bloody. Duration of disease, 3 to 15 days. Dangerous! 

Treatment: — Apply mustard poultice to the lungs 

until flesh is very red, then apply hot flax seed poultices 

every hour. Give Carbonate of Ammonia. For child 3 

months old, one tablet in teaspoonful of water every 3 

(11) 



12 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

hours; child 6 to 12 months old, one tablet in "water 
every one and one-half hours; adult, one tablet in water 
every half hour, For the fever in children one year old, 
give one-half tablet of Aconite in water every 15 minutes 
until patient sweats, then stop. For adults, give 1 tab- 
let of Aconite every 15 minutes until sweating occurs, 
then stop. If there is much sinking, give whisky in 
doses of 3^ to 4 teaspoonfuls every hour. For weak 
heart action, give % tablet of Digitalis in water every 2 
hours for child one year old ; for adults, 1 tablet every 
hour; if the pulse is strong or irregular, stop the Digi- 
talis. 

PNEUMONIA — Lung Fever. 

There are two kinds, Catarrhal Pneumonia and Croup- 
ous Pneumonia. 

catarrhal pneumonia. 

Symptoms: — Usually occurs with other diseases or in 
the course of other troubles such as Measles or Whooping 
Cough. High fever with remissions, skin may prespire 
freely, pulse frequent but may become irregular, breath- 
ing frequent and labored, cough hacking and painful, 
patient tries to hold it back, spittle hardly ever " rusty " 
in color, (See Croupous Pneumonia) patient may become 
stupid, lips blue, nostrils dilated, great loss of strength 
and fat, restlessness, recovery slow, very dangerous 
disease. 

Treatment: — Give 1 tablet of Ipecac and 1 tablet of 
Muriate of Ammonia every hour to adult, % tablet of 
Ipecac and % tablet of Muriate of Ammonia to child 5 to 
"j.0 years old. for child 6 months to five years old dissolve 
1 tablet of Ipecac and 1 tablet of Muriate of Ammonia in 
4 teaspoonfuls of water and give 1 teaspoonful every 



THB A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 13 

hour or two. apply flaxseed poultices over the whole lungs 
in both children and adults. Where there is much 
sinking give Carbonate o( Ammonia in wine or whisky 
without stint; when the lungs are badly loaded up :i^ 
shown by the heavy breathing, crowd the Ipecac until 
vomiting takes place. 

CROUPOUS PNEUMONIA. 

Symptoms: — Usually commences very suddenly, fever 
high, restlessness, vomiting, headache, may have delir- 
ium, pain in the side which usually comes on with the 
chill, chill is marked, very rapid breathing and has the 
"expiratory moan," that is as the air leaves the lungs 
the patient moans; cough commences early, is short and 
hacking and often comes on in spasms, spittle becomes 
"rusty," that is red like iron rust and is so sticky that 
it is hard to get it out of the mouth and it will stick to the 
1 even when the vessel is reversed, after a time the 
spittle becomes yellow, then white; urine is scanty and 
high colored, skin hot and dry, having a burning feel 
to the hand; fever high on second or third day wuth a 
daily variation, lowest in the morning, tongue dry and 
furred, lips crack, may have vomiting and inability to 
swallow, thirst marked, may have matter form in the 
lungs, water blisters may appear on the face, lasts from 
3 to 11 days; moderately dangerous. 

Treatment: — The main treatment is to keep up the 
patient's strength. Do this by giving soups, wine or 
brandy and give 1 Carbonate of Ammonia tablet in 
teaspoonful of water every hour to adult, or )£ or }4 
tablet of Carbonate of Ammonia to children. Children 
arc not very subject to Croupous Pneumonia. 



14 OUK FAMILY DOCTOR. 

PLEURISY. 

Symptoms: — Chills at beginning, pain below nipple 
or under the arm, which is very sharp and stitch-like; 
pain increased by breathing or coughing; breathing fast, 
30 to 35 per minute; irregular and shallow — that is, the 
lungs are not filled full of air, on account of the pain — 
cough generally present, patient tries not to cough on 
account of pain, at first patient will lie on sore side, 
fever not very high, pulse 90 to 120 per minute, full, 
strong and bounding, headache. Matter may form in 
lung; when this happens the patient wastes away, hair 
falls out, ends of fingers become " clubbed, " skin be- 
comes hot, dry and harsh; pulse weak. Disease is mod- 
erately dangerous. 

Treatment: — Strap the painful side; get some long, 
adhesive plaster strips; commence on the back, at the 
spine, and stick one end to the flesh, then bring the strip 
around to the front, where it should end in middle of 
chest, and a little lower down than where it was started. 
The first strip should be put on about 2J£ inches below 
the nipple, and the others put above this, until the chest 
is about half covered; the strips should be about 1 inch 
wide. A tightly bound cloth bandage will do in place 
of strips, but is not as good, as it has to be wound around 
the whole body. Give 1 tablet of Opium every hour to 
adult, to relieve pain, or, dissolve 1 Morphine tablet in 
4 teaspoonfuls of water, and give J£ teaspoonful every 
hour to child 5 to 10 years old, to relieve pain. Dissolve 

1 tablet of Aconite in 4 teaspoonfuls of water, and give 

2 teaspoonfuls every half hour to adults till sweating 
occurs, then stop. Give 1 teaspoonful of the Aconite 
and water every half hour, to child 5 to 10 years old, 



THE A. B. C, OF MEDICINE 1 5 

till sweating occurs, then stop. When yon are sure 
yon have Pleurisy, and after 24 hours of the above treat- 
ment without any benefit, send for your doctor. 

COLDS. 

Symptoms: — Sneezing, slight cough, running at the 
. watery eyes, furred tongue, diarrhoea, or constipa- 
tion, slight headache, pain in the limbs and back, comes 
on gradually. Do not let it run, as it may become a 
serious trouble. 

Treatment: — Dissolve 1 tablet of Morphine in 8 tea- 
spoonfuls of water; add to this 1 tablet of Carbonate of 
Ammonia, and 1 tablet of Ipecac. For child 3 to 5 
years old, J£ teaspoonf ul every 2 hours ; for child 5 to 10 
years old, 1 teaspoonful every 2 hours. To adult, 2 tea- 
spoonfuls every 15 minutes to half hour. Grease the 
nose and between the eyes with Vaseline, and open the 
bowels with a compound Cathartic pill, for the grown 
people, and 1 tablet of Calomel every hour, for the chil- 
dren. You can leave out the Morphine, if you wish. 

SMALL POX.— Variola. 

Symptoms : — From 10 to 13 days after exposure to 
small pox the patient begins to have the chill, backache, 
headache and fever, which ushers in this horrible dis- 
: the fever is high, 104 to 105 degrees from the start 
and with it the pulse jumps up to 120 to 140 per min- 
ute. Vomiting and sick stomach, with sore throat are 
now prominent symptoms; light-headedness by the 2nd 
day is a common feature. After three days of the fever 
the '"rash" or better, eruption comes on, this first ap- 
pears as slightly elevated red points, about as large as a 



16 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR . 

pin-head or millet seed, and are movable and hard; 
they make their appearance first on the forehead, nose 
and lips; they slowly increase in size and burn and itch; 
in about 12 hours after they have appeared on the face, 
the body, arms and legs, then the hands and feet are 
covered ; the points will be found on the inside of the 
hands and bottom of feet, the only eruption doing iliis. On 
the second day after the eruption appears, the spots or 
points turn a darker red and become elevated above the 
skin; on the third day they are pointed slightly and 
have a little water blister on top; they are now about 
the size of a small pea; as they now enlarge a depres- 
sion or cup forms on their top which looks like the 
naval (umbilicated.) When the eruption is out, all the 
other symptoms subside ; fever falls and pulse is slower ; 
about the 6th day of the eruption matter commences to 
form in the water blisters, and by the 8th day the pock 
is complete- Around the pock or pustule, the skin be- 
comes red, swollen and angry looking, the face swells 
to a large size and the itching is fearful ; during this 
stage the odor of the room is sickening. From the 
evening of the 8th or 9th day of the eruption the pock 
commences to grow smaller and dries up and by the 
14th day they commence to fall off, leaving the pits 
which are red in color, and if the pock has been rup- 
tured by scratching the pit is deep and will never dis- 
appear except in very young children. On the 8th day 
you will have the secondary fever, which generally 
commences with a chill; when the crusts fall off this 
fever disappears. 

This is a very dangerous disease and should always 
be treated by a skillful doctor. It is catching, and no 
one but the nurse should be allowed in the room. 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 17 

Treatment: — For severe headache put cold packs on 
head; give iced milk as food and when the sinking stage 
is reached, which is sure to come, dissolve 2 tablets of 
Carbonate of Ammonia in 1 tablespoonful of brandy 
and give it every hour, or oftener if needed, open each 
x on the face and hands as soon as the water blister 
forms and keep cloths dipped in cold water over the 
this stops the itching and saves the pitting. Always 
have your children vaccinated every 5 years as it is the 
only sure way of preventing small pox. Never give a 
cathartic. 

CHICKEN-POX. 

Symptoms: — Slight fever, headache, chill, languor, 
sometimes back and limb ache. Pulse 100 to 112 per 
minute. In 24 hours, eruption, or pocks appear, first 
< m body, then on face and limbs. The pocks are small, 
red, and have water in them, the water appears in the 
whole of the spots at the same time \ there is no depres- 
sion or hardness to the pock, and no regular size. (See 
Small Pox.) No danger. 

Ireatment: — Bromide of Potash, 1 tablet in 10 tea- 
spoonfuls of water, 1 teaspoonful every 2 to 3 hours. 

SCARLET FEVER— Scarlatina. 

Symptoms: — A contagious or catching disease, comes 
on within 6 to 8 days after exposure, within 24 to 48 
hours after the child is taken sick rash appears which 
lasts from 5 to 9 days, then the " peeling" or throwing 
off the dead skin commences which lasts a longer or 
shorter period, generally about 8 days. The child may 
be and generally is, taken sick suddenly, commences to 



18 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

vomit, has flushed face, sore throat, tongue red and 
looks like a strawberry, chilliness, pulse fast, fever, 
thirst, neck stiff, joints tender, then in 24 or 48 hours 
as a rule you will find a fine red rash coming out, which 
itches badly; it first appears on the neck and upper 
part of the chest, this fine rash runs together and 
extends over the whole body, face and limbs. On the 
fourth day after the rash appears if you draw your 
thumb nail along the rash a white line appears which 
lasts for some time. After the second day of the rash 
the whole surface of the child will be covered. Perhaps 
a flea bite looks the nearest like a scarlet fever rash. The 
color varies according to the severity of the disease, the 
darker red it is the more severe will be the sickness. 
The dangers are many in scarlet fever and consist of 
diphtheiia with the scarlet fever, matter forming at 
angle of the jaw, brain trouble from the disease going 
to the brain, kidney trouble, which brings on swelling 
of the hands and feet, trouble with the eyes and lungs. 

Treatment: — Keep the patient warm in bed from the 
start to the very end, about 3 weeks, for a cold while 
the child is " peeling," will nearly always kill it. Keep 
the rash greased, as this gives comfort, and when peel- 
ing commences, keeps the skin from blowing about. 
Give cool drinks, not too cold, and dissolve 3 tablets of 
Tincture of Iron in 8 teaspoonfuls of water, add 6 tablets 
of Sulphur, 4 tablets of Chlorate of Potash, and 8 
Quinine pills; dissolve them all together, and give Y 2 
teaspoonful of this mixture every three hours to child 1 
to 3 years old ; 1 teaspoonful every 3 hours to child 3 to 
6 years old, and 1% teaspoonfuls every 3 hours to child 
6 to 12 years old. If the child has spasms, put it in a 
hot mustard bath, and apply ice to back of head. Never 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE, ID 

give a Cathartic in scarlet fever, measles, German meas 
small pox or chicken pox. Give light foods, without 
spices in them, and keep the other children, and neigh- 
bors, out of the room and house. The dangers or com- 
plications of scarlet fever, should only be treated by a 
skillful physician, and for that reason I do not give their 
treatment. 

MEASLES. 

r MPTOMS: — More frequent or more common than 
any of the other contagious or catching diseases, 8 or 10 
days after exposure, the child begins to have snuffles, 
running at the eyes and nose, feels tired, chilly and fret- 
ful, may have some fever, light hurts the eyes, pain in 
forehead, slight sore throat, dry cough, the whites of the 

become very red and inflamed; this is characteristic 
of Measles; fever rises, and in from 2 to 5 days the rash 
appears, first upon the face, then neck, then upon the 
chest, body and limbs. It takes about 4 days for it to 
L r o over the whole body and extremities. The rash 
i omes on in fine, red dots or points, which run together, 
and form half moon shape patches, the skin between 
them being natural in color, differing from scarlet fever 
in this respect; with the rash the skin becomes swollen, 
and burns and itches, the eruption or rash reaches its 
height about the end of the third day from its appear- 
ance, and then commences to turn yellow and fade, and 

nerally entirely gone by the end of the 6th day. 
Sneezing, coughing, and fever are very marked during 
the rash. Pulse 100 to 120 per minute, fever 106 to 107 
degrees; as soon as the rash begins to disappear, the 
fever falls, and all the symptoms abate in violence. The 
skin of the child now peels off, but not nearly as much 
as in scarlet fever. This is not a dangerous disease, 



20 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

unless complications set in, such as Bronchitis, Pneurao. 
nia, Ear and Eye inflammations, (see these diseases), 
Kidney, Brain or intestinal troubles. Diphtheria is not a 
very common complication with Measles. 

Treatment: — Keep the patient warm, give warm drinks 
till the rash appears; Dissolve 1 tablet of Chlorate of 
Potash in 6 teaspoonfuls of water, give 1 teaspoonful 
every hour or two till throat symptoms subside. Put 1 
tablet of Sulphate of Zinc in a half pint of warm water 
and wash the eyes out every 4 to 6 hours, keep the room 
dark, and grease the patient to keep down the itching. 
If fever is very high give 1 Quinine pill every 4 hours 
to child 5 to 10 years old, J^ Quinine pill every 4 hours to 
child 1 to 5 years old; keep the room at 79° tempera- 
ture, give light food. If the child has the earache pour 
hot water in the ear with a tablespoon every 15 minutes 
and use at least 6 of the tablespoonfuls of water at a 
time, use the water as hot as it can be borne by the 
child 

GERMAN MEASLES-Rotheln. 

Symptoms: — The child feels sick from 12 to 24 hours, 
when a light red rash appears, which may first appear 
on the back, chest, cheeks or neck; it is in round patches 
and may look like measles or scarlet fever. I have seen 
cases where the cheeks, neck and chest looked exactly 
like measles, and on the arms and legs of the same child 
the rash had all the appearance of scarlet fever. A 
mild inflammation is noticed of the eyes and throat, 
fever is usually mild and pulse about 100 per minute, 
only a few of the children have cough, tongue is usually 
covered with a light fur, slight vomiting may occur, no 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 21 

ger at present, but I believe as the disease becomes 
more common that it will in time be a very dangerous 

Treatment: — Keep the child warm, give warm drinks; 
dissolve 1 tablet of Chlorate of Potash in 10 teaspoonsful 
of water, and give 1 teaspoonful every 3 or 4 hours till 
throat is well. Keep patient in a dark room and give 
plain food without meats. 

ERYSIPELAS. — The Rose, St. Anthony's 
Fire. 

Symptoms: — There are two kinds, one coming from 
wounds, bites and scratches, the other a blood disease; 
both kinds are catching. May commence on any part 
of the body, legs, arms, face or neck. Restlessness from 
pain, which is burning, and comes on as soon as the 
skin becomes red. High fever, difficult breathing com- 
mon in children, chilliness, sore throat, bowels loose, as 
a rule, though they may be bound up; nose-bleed com- 
mon, skin feels hot, tight and dry, tender to the touch, 
becomes red, swollen, firm, tense and shining; redness 
starts from one spot and slowly spreads, usually in one 
direction; as the disease goes on, the color becomes 
darker, swelling becomes greater, and will pit or depress 
under pressure; pulse full, strong, and 100 to 120 per 
minute, worse in evening. The redness may jump from 
one place to another on the surface of the body, or may 
go to the brain, may form matter. Dangerous disease, 
and nearly always kills children. 

Treatment: — Cool drinks, good food, cranberry poul- 
tices, put on hot. Dissolve 1 tablet of Tincture of Iron 
in a teaspoonful of water, and give it every 1 or 2 hours 



22 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

to a grown person; for children, 1 tablet of the Iron in 
5 teaspoonf uls of sweetened water, and give ^ teaspoon- 
ful every 2 to 3 hours to child 1 to 5 years old; 1 tea- 
spoonful to child 5 to 10 years old. Give 1 Quinine pill 
every 2 hours to grown person; 1 Quinine pill every 4 
hours to child 5 to 10; Yi Quinine pill every 4 hours to 
child 1 year old. If there is much pain, give 1 Opium 
tablet to grown person every half hour, or dissolve 1 
Morphine tablet in 10 teaspoonfuls of water and give 1 
teaspoonful every half hour to child 5 to 10 years old; 
^4 teaspoonful every hour to child 1 to 5 years old, till 
quiet, then stop. 

DIPHTHERIA. 

Symptoms: — At first, chilliness, slight headache, pain 
in back and legs, poor appetite, slight tenderness in 
throat, fever marked, tongue is moist, slight fur, patient 
may vomit, small lumps appear at angle of the jaw, in- 
side of throat red, except where patch will appear, where 
the color is bluish; in 24 or more hours, a white mem- 
brane will commence to form on this blue spot, this 
membrane will soon turn slightly yellow and the breath 
will become offensive ; may now have paralysis of throat, 
cannot swallow, pulse fast, spittle runs from mouth, 
face slightly flushed, tongue nasty, pain in swallowing, 
patch grows larger, and child begins to sink, urine be- 
comes scanty, sweating profuse. Dangerous disease; 
one out of three generally die. Remember this disease 
is catching. 

Treatment: — Put 3 tablets of the Tincture of Iron in 
8 teaspoonfuls of water, add to this 8 tablets of Sulphur, 
8 tablets of Chlorate of Potash, and 8 Quinine pills, dis- 
solve them all together, and to child 1 year old give }i 
teaspoonful of this mixture every 3 hours; to child 2 to 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 28 

Mrs old, 1 teaspoonful every 2 hours; to child 5 to 
10 years old, 2 teaspoonfuls every 2 hours. After the 

nd day give wiae or whisky, as much as is needed 
to keep the child from sinking. With the above medi- 
cines you can make the best right for your child's life. 
Do not be afraid to crowd the medicine, as your child is 
in a very dangerous condition, and you should keep the 
other children, and neighbors, out of the room, and 
Bend for your doctor. 

QUINSY— Tonsillitis. 

Symptoms: — Sore throat; on looking at the inside of 
throat one or both tonsils will be found swollen, red and 
full, tongue coated with fur, sides of and back of throat 
red and inflamed, tenderness behind the jaw, hurts to 
swallow, breathing may be difficult, voice altered and 
husky, snore loud when asleep, fever high, bowels 
bound up, great dryness of mouth with thirst, headache, 
restlessness, may have delirium at night, may have matter 
form in one or both tonsils, and if they are not lanced 
will break themselves and constitute the only danger, 
which is from suffocation; not a very dangerous disease. 

Treatment: — Open up the bowels with salts, oil or 
Cathartic pills; give 1 Quinine pill every hour to adult till 
12 have been taken, y z Quinine pill every 3 hours to child 
5 to 14 years old ; dissolve 6 tablets Tincture of Iron in J^ 
glass of water, add 3 tablets of Belladonna and let an 
adult or children old enough, gargle the throat every 
hour spitting out the gargle when done. Heat water in 
a teakettle and allow the patient to breathe the hot steam 
as warm as can be borne; for young children who cannot 
gargle, put 2 tablets of Tincture of Iron in 10 teaspoonfuls 



24 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

of water, add 5 Sulphur tablets aud give ££tol teaspoon- 
ful every hour according to the age of child, let the 
patient suck ice and bind salt pork around the neck. 

COMMON SORE THROAT, 

Symptoms:— Comes on suddenly, hurts to swallow, 
whole throat red and inflamed, bowels constipated, 
slight headache, tongue dirty, voice husky, may be deaf, 
pulse 100 to 120 per minute, some fever. No danger. 

Treatment: — Open the bowels with oil, salts or com- 
pound cathartic pills, and give 1 tablet of Chlorate of 
Potash every hour until the throat is better. 

CROUP. 

There are two kinds, called "True Croup " and "False 
Croup." 

FALSE CROUP. 

Symptoms: — Cough for two or three days, running at 
the nose, slight cold at first ; or these symptoms may be 
absent. Between 10 and 12 o'clock at night may occur a 
sudden, loud, barking cough, whistling breathing, breath- 
ing hard, face flushed, great restlessness, skin hot and dry, 
pulse fast, lasts from 1 to three hours; patient generally 
gets well, — subject to return of disease. 

Treatment:— Hot bath. Give 1 tablet of Ipecac in 
water every 20 .minutes, till child vomits, keep warm; 
apply heat to neck. Xext day give 1 Quinine pill every 
4 hours, to child 2 years old. 

TRUE CROUP. 

Symptoms: — Cold in head; hoarse, dry cough; voice 
hoarse, spittle frothy, membrane comes off when child 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 3D 

vomits, breathing rapid, and the chest is quiet, the 
breathing being (lone by the bowel muscles; nostrils 
dilated, spasms of throat, and child throws itself from 
Bide to side; eyes wild, face anxious, fingers and lips 
blue, between spasms of throat, child is quiet; pulse, 110 
to 190. If symptoms lull, do not think child is better, 
for usually they will recommence. Disease lasts from 2 
.o 14 days, and 19 out of 20 die. 

Treatment: — Give 1 tablet of Ipecac in water every 
90 minutes till vomiting occurs, then 1 tablet of Calomel 
every hour, until your doctor can get there, and send for 
him quick. 

HOOPING, OR WHOOPING COUGH. 

Symptoms: — A catching or contagious disease, gener- 
ally caught in childhood, between the ages of 1 and 2 
years; has 3 stages: 1st stage, sneezing, cough and 
mild bronchitis, eyes slightly red, no spittle; this stage 
may last from 3 days to 6 weeks. The 2nd stage then 
sets in, child feels a tickling in throat, which brings on 
a spasm of coughing, with tight feeling across the 
chest ; child will put its head on its mother's knees or 
takes hold of some fixed thing to help it during the 
'coughing; pulse and breathing during the spasm are 
slightly faster; the sound during the spasm of cough- 
ing is called the "hoop" or "whoop." The face be- 
comes flushed during this period; as soon a3 the cough- 
ing is over, the child's face, pulse and breathing become 
natural again ; the child will spit out a little frothy mu- 
cus; anger, fright or exertion will bring on the cough. 
This stage lasts until about the 35th day of the disease, 
when the 3rd stage sets in. Spittle turns yellow and is 
thicker, cough becomes less and is neither so frequent 



26 OUK FAMILY DOCTOR. 

or so hard; child begins to breathe better during spasm 
and is getting well; this stage lasts for a longer or 
shorter period; sometimes 2 years after, if the child 
gets angered or frightened a spasm of coughing takes 
place. There is not much danger in this disease, unless 
complications set in, such as convulsions, bursting 
blood vessel, bronchitis or pneumonia; these, however, 
are rare. 

Treatment: — During 1st stage, givel tablet of Muriate 
of Ammonia every 2 to 5 hours, keep child warm, and 
treat convulsions as directed (see Convulsions.) During 
2nd stage or spasmodic cough, dissolve 2 tablets of Bro- 
mide of Potash in 10 teaspoonfuls of water, add 1 tablet 
of Opium and give 1 teaspoonful every 2 hours, or oft- 
ener if spasm is hard, to child 1 to 5 years old ; in ad- 
dition to this, dissolve one tablet of Belladonna in a 
teaspoonful of water and give it morning and evening 
until the spasms of coughing are controled. During 
the 3rd stage no medicines are needed. 

MUMPS. 

Symptoms: — A catching or contagious disease; swell- 
ing and tenderness at one or both angles of jaw ; this 
gradually increases until it fills all the space back to the 
ear and forward on the cheek ; may have vomiting, pain 
in swallowing, especially anything sour; fever, which 
lasts about 48 hours; talking is painful, lasts from 8 to 
10 days. Danger is the flying of disease to the ovaries 
of females and testicles of males. 

Treatment:— Keep warm, stay in the house, and cover 
the swelling with cotton batting; give warm drinks. 
No medicine is needed. Do not take cold. 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICtNE. '27 

CEREBRO-SPINAL FEVER — Or Spotted 
Fever. 

ifPTOMS: — Commences between 12 M. and 6 a. m. ; 

len attack, slight chill, or, in children, perhaps a 
3m; unconsciousness, or delirium; violent pain in 
; of head and neck, vomiting usual, fever high at 

. diziness, restlessness, skin painful when touched, 
1 drawn backward after one to two days, tongue 

d white or brown, appetite gone, usually conctipa- 

. pulse 100 to 160 per minute, breathing quiet, skin 

white or pallid, goose flesh, dusky red or bluish spots, 

limes water blisters; cross eyes, deafness and loss 
:nell common — generally a fatal disease! 

Treatment: — Give one tablet of Bromide of Potash 
in water every hour, ice-packs to head. For pain, 1 tab- 
let of Morphine in 5 teaspoonfuls of water, 1 teaspoon- 
ful every half hour to child 1 year to 5 years old, 2 tea- 
nfuls to child 5 to 10 years old, and 1 tablet to adult, 
till quiet, then stop the morphine. 

CONVULSIONS OR SPASMS. 

Symptoms: — Twitching and jerking of the limbs, 
frothing at mouth, grinding teeth, drawing up of legs 
and arms, clenched hands, with thumbs on the palms, 
eyes rolling or fixed, short breathing, head drawn back. 
Generally commencement of some other disease. 

Treatment: — Put child into a hot mustard bath. Ap- 
ply cold to top and back of head. Give one tablet 
of Bromide of Potash in one teaspoonful of sweetened 
r every half hour till quiet. 



88 OUR FAMILY DOCTOK. 

CONGESTION OF BRAIN. 

Symptoms: — Common in childhood, though it may 
come on at any time of life; may come on of itself or 
during other diseases; stupor,, insensibility, heat of head, 
throbbing of blood vessels, restlessness, when wakened 
twitching of limbs, convulsions, light hurts the eyes, not 
much fever or none at all, eyes bloodshot; dangerous 
disease. 

Treatment: — Give one Calomel tablet every hour dry 
on the tongue till 12 have been taken, then give Salts till 
the bowels have moved thoroughly. If there is stupor 
at first give 1 tablet of Ipecac every 15 minutes till 
vomiting occurs then follow with the Calomel and Salts. 
Shave the head and apply ice all over the head, and send 
for your doctor. 

NEURALGIA. 

Symptoms: — May be located in any part of the body, 
sharp, shooting, tearing or dull pain, not much fever 
except from pain. People who are subject to neuralgia 
rarely ever become fully cured, and its treatment is very 
unsatistactory both to patient and physician. 

Treatment: — Give 1 tablet of Morphine every hour to 
grown person till pain is relieved, then stop. Apply hot 
poultices or cloths wrung out of hot water to the affected 
spot; pressure over the seat of pain will sometimes give 
relief; during the intervals of pain open the bowels with 
a Cathartic pill and give 1 Quinine pill every hour to 
adult, if the pain is in the jaw have the teeth examined 
by a good dentist. Electricity and rubbing or massage 
will sometimes give relief. 



Till: A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 29 

RHEUMATISM. 

Symptoms: — Acute Rheumatism occurs suddenly; 
it fever at first, becoming more marked, pain and 
redness of the joints which become swollen, may form 
matter, pulse 120 to 140 per minute, great sweating, 
appetite poor, tongue coated, bowels bound up, urine 
red, small amount and smells bad. If the Rheumatism 
leaves the joints and goes to the heart it is a very danger- 
ous disease. It lasts about 14 days; you should have a 
doctor see the patient from time to time. 

Treatment: — Cover the joint or joints afflicted, with 
cotton batting, over which bind flannel cloth and 
1 Quinine pill every hour to adult, 1 Quinine pill 
every 3 hours to child 5 to 10 years old, and % Quinine 
pill every 3 hours to child 1 to 5 years old, when pain is 
excessive give adult 1 Morphine tablet every hour till 
quiet, then stop; to child dissolve 3 tablets of Bromide of 
Potash and 5 Muriate of Ammonia tablets in 5 teaspoon- 
fuls of sweetened water and give 1 teaspoonful every 2 
hours to children 1 to 10 years old. If pain goes to heart 
send for your doctor at once. 

CHOLERA INFANTUM. 

Symptoms: — Generally abrupt, in beginning may have 
had diarrhoea, passages thin, frequent, watery like 
urine, odor musty; vomiting frequent, appetite gone, 
great thirst, tongue clean or light white fur, pulse fast, 
fever high, no pain, urine scanty, marked loss of 
ngth and fat, eyes sunken, lips blue, restlessness, 
skin may feel cool, and lies in folds, child will not move 
to keep flies from eyes or face, lasts from 1 to 3 days. 
Very danrjerous ! 



30 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

Treatment: — Dissolve 1 Morphine tablet in 4 tea- 
spoonfuls of water, add 4 Bismuth tablets to this. 
Give a teaspoonful every hour to child 1 year old, 
every % hour to child 1 to 3 years old. If there is roll- 
ing of the head, or stupor, leave out the Morphine and 
give the Bismuth alone. When the stools are checked 
use the Bismuth alone. Remember, Morphine is danger- 
ous! For the thirst, give pounded ice, and put cold 
packs at back of head. For the extreme weakness give 
10 to 15 drops of brandy in a very little water every 
hour. 

CHOLERA MORBUS. 

Symptoms:— Comes on in 1 to 2 days with diarrhoea, 
usually griping pain in bowels, exhaustion, trembling, 
depression, have the blues, dizzy headed, pain in stom- 
ach, then the passages commence to increase in number, 
vomiting, great thirst, passages watery, looks like water 
in which rice has been boiled, sometimes a little blood in 
them; may have complete absence of pain, the vomit 
becomes yellow and green; cramps of the limbs, fingers 
and toes, now set in, and are fearful ; now comes the 
stage of collapse, face pinched, lead colored or blue, 
eye-balls sunk back, eyes half open, nose looks pinched, 
skin of feet and hands wrinkled, pulse feeble, brain 
becomes stupid, no spittle, no urine. If this disease is 
very hard, it is so near real cholera that only the regu- 
lar doctor can tell the difference. It is a very danger- 
ous disease. 

Treatment: — As soon as Diarrhoea appears, give 1 
tablet of Calomel and 1 tablet of Morphine every half 
hour. The time to avert this disease is at the start. If, 
however, it has gone too long, give 1 tablet of Mor- 



TUB A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 31 

pbine, 1 tablet of Opium, and 1 tablet of Bromide of 
ish every half hour till passages are cheeked. If. 
however, sinking and depression, with cold sweat, has 
commenced, do not give either the Morphine or the 
< >pium, but give 1 tablet of Bromide of Potash, with 5 
tablets of Carbonate of Bismuth every 20 minutes. Ap- 
ply hot poultices to the bowels, and give the sick person 
ice to suck. Remember, do not let the disease get a 
. and give the Opium and Morphine at once, as 
above, when there is only slight depression or collapse. 
1 for your doctor. 

DYSENTERY — Bloody Flux. 

Symptoms: — Chill, thirst, fever, diarrhoea, colic, appe- 
tite gone, griping pains, twisting pain in bowels, heat 
bowels, tenderness on left side in groin, gas in bow- 
bearing down pain in rectum, pain relieved after 
age, passages scanty, bloody, odor bad like carrion, 
may have hard lumps in them which look like raw 
meat, desire to pass water often, furred tongue, water 
high colored and smells bad. Lasts variable time. Dan- 
us disease, may become chronic. 
Treatment: — Hot bath, give 1 tablet of Ipecac every 
half hour, and if vomiting occurs give 1 Opium tablet 
with the Ipecac until the vomiting stops, then stop the 
Opium. Give no water for thirst, but give pounded ice. 
Apply a turpentine poultice over the bowels for a few 
hours, and follow it with a flaxseed poultice. Send for 
doctor. 

DIARRHOEA. 
mttoms: — Comes on suddenly, as a rule. Restless- 
disturbed sleep, pain in bowels, vomiting; passages 
in children, green; in adults, the color varies. Pain at 
anus, sour smell, considerable thirst, appetite varies, 



32 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

tongue moist, no tenderness of bowels but considerable 
wind, no constant fever; may have fast pulse, may have 
spasm. Moderately dangerous disease. 

Treatment: — For children, diet the child, (see Diet), 
boil the milk and water, if spoon-fed. Give one tablet 
of Calomel dry to child 1 to 3 years old every hour till 
6 are taken, then put 5 tablets of Carbonate of Bismuth 
in 5 teaspoonfuls of water, with 1 tablet of Opium 
added, give 1 teaspoonful of this mixture after each pas- 
sage until the passages are checked. Where there is no 
pain, leave out the Opium and give one tablet of Car- 
bonate of Bismuth, on the tongue, every hour till pas- 
sages are checked. For adults, give 1 tablet of Calomel, 
dry, every half hour until 10 have been taken, then 1 
tablet of Opium every 2 hours and 1 tablet of Carbon- 
ate of Bismuth every half hour till passages are checked, 
follow next day with 1 Quinine pill every 3 hours. 

THRUSH-Sprue. 

Symptoms: — Comes on in the mouth, may extend 
down the throat, never attacks the nose or lungs, child 
becomes fretful, mouth and throat red, inflamed and 
tender, vomiting and diarrhoea. The Thrush consists of 
white points at first, which soon run together and 
become patches, they are slightly elevated, and look like 
white mould, or curdled milk, after the disease has run 
on for a short time the patches have a yellowish color, 
it comes on in young children and is very dangerous 
unless properly treated. If the previous health of the 
child is good the case should be cured in 3 to 6 days. 

Treatment: — Give good food, (see Diet); dissolve 1 
tablet of Sulphate of Zinc in 8 teaspoonfuls of water, 
and apply this to the throat and mouth with a camels 
hair brush or with your finger, do this once a day; 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 38 

twice a day use a little borax in water in the same way; 
the child plenty of fresh air, and keep clean by 
frequent bathing. 

FEVER AND AGUE. 

Symptoms: — Three stages. First stage, cold; the per- 
son has a chill which is more or less hard, and lasts a 
variable length of time; the fingers and lips are blue, 
teeth chatter, goose pimples appear, pain in back, limbs 
and head , appetite gone, vomiting or sick stomach com- 
mon, thirsty, fast breathing, pulse frequent, weak and 
irregular, may have collapse. Very young children do 
not have a complete chill. The next stage now sets in. 
This is called the hot stage, and may come on suddenly 
or gradually. Skin feels burning hot and dry, is red, 
may have little rash, face flushed, eyes red, intense 
thirst, heart and pulse throb, breathing more quiet, 
headache constant, may be delirious or have spasms 
This stage lasts from 3 to 8 hours, when the third stage 
in, which is called the " Sweating Stage." The 
sweat breaks out first on the forehead and then over the 
whole body, amount varies, fever falls, breathing be- 
comes easier, the patient falls asleep and awakes in 
pretty fair health. The Ague may come on every 
other day, or, every 3 days, and sometimes twice 
a day. The water is increased during cold and hot stage, 
but is much lessened in the sweating stage. Ague is not 
a very fatal disease, but may cause death. It is more 
fatal to children than grown persons. 

Treatment:— During cold stage put the patient in bed, 

cover up warm, give warm hot drinks; if there is much 

vomiting put 5 tablets of Sulphate of Zinc in 5 tea 

nfuls of water, and give one teaspoonful every 15 



34 OUK FAMILY DOCTOR. 

minutes till the stomach is well emptied, then stop. 
This is the dose for a grown person. Give 14 or y 2 tea- 
spoonful to children, according to age. During hot 
stage give cool drinks and sponge the body with water, 
to which Vinegar or Alcohol may be added. During 
sweating stage no remedies are required. Between the 
stages, when the patient is feeling well, open up the 
bowels of a grown person by giving 1 to 2 Cathartic pills 
at night, and follow it next day by a Quinine pill every 
hour until there is ringing in the ears; for children, 
open the bowels with a tablet of Calomel every hour till 
passage is obtained, then give J< Quinine pill to child 
1 to 5 years old every 3 hours; one Quinine pill every 4 
hours to child 5 to 10 years old. This disease is apt to 
become chronic. 

BILIOUS FEVER — Remittent Fever. 

Symptoms: — Green or yellow vomit, loss of appetite, 
sick stomach, headache, pains over the body, yellow 
eyeballs, yellow skin, fever which never falls com- 
pletely, (see Ague) restlessness, constipation, or slimy, 
green or brown passages, urine scanty and high colored, 
no regular chill as in ague, hot stage very marked, with 
extreme thirst; tenderness on the right side, over the 
liver; white or yellow fur on the tongue, pulse fast, and 
may be full or irregular; when vomit turns black it is a 
very dangerous disease, lasts from 1 to 15 days. 

Treatment: — Cool drinks, 1 tablet of Calomel every 
hour for children 1 to 10 years old, and 1 tablet of Calo- 
mel every half hour for grown people, until passage of 
the bowels. If there is no passage 1 hour after 12 tab- 
lets of Calomel have been taken, give a dose of Castor 
Oil or Salts. As soon as the bowels have moved, give 1 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE, 35 

Quinine pill every 4 hours to children, every hour to 
grown people, till eyes are dilated, and pupils large. For 
the restlessness, put one tablet of Bromide of Potash in 
5 teaspoonfuls of water; give 1 teaspoonful every hour 
to child 1 to 5 years old; two teaspoonfuls every hour to 
child 5 to 10, and 5 teaspoonfuls every hour to grown 
person, till quiet. Do not give the Bromide of Potash 
till after the bowels have moved. 

TYPHOID FEVER. 

Symptoms:— Comes on slowly, grumbling headache, 
chilliness with flashes of heat, loss of appetite, some- 
times vomiting and sick stomach; by the fifth or sixth 
day patient goes to bed, may have slight diarrhoea, the 
fever rises steadily for the first week, then comes the rise 
and fall of the fever, which is characteristic of this dis- 
ease. The fever in the evening is higher than in the 
morning, and if you have a thermometer of the kind 
used by doctors, you will find that this variation is about 
2 degrees in the evening and 1 in the morning — that is, 
it will be 101 in the morning, 103 at night, 102 the next 
morning, 104 at night. This goes on for about seven 
days, then for seven days the fever is stationary in morn- 
ing and evening; say 103 in morning, 105 in evening; 
then for 7 days the fever falls as it arose, 1 degree a day. 
Typhoid fever lasts three weeks and cannot be ' 'broken" 
before that time. The patient is stupid, and out of his 
head, and has thick, nasty tongue. About the second 
week mulberry-colored or pinkish spots appear over the 
body, and stav as long as the fever lasts. There may 
not be over twenty or thirty of these spots, but you can 
find them; the teeth become foul, nose-bleed is common; 
there is pain, on pressure, over the right groin, and the 



36 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

bowels are full of wind; the lips have water blisters 
over them, the face is pinched, breathing becomes shal- 
low and fast, the pulse is weak and irregular. This dis- 
ease is very dangerous, is catching from the -passages from 
the bowels, which should be thrown into a disinfectant 
as soon as passed. As the patient is subject to relapses, 
which are more dangerous than the first attack, you 
should always employ a doctor in this disease. 

Treatment: — Put 12 tablets of Carbonate of Ammonia 
in 8 teaspoonfuls of whisky and give 1 teaspoonful of 
this every 1, 2 or 3 hours. Give no fruit \ nor food of any 
kind, except milk. The greatest danger in Typhoid 
Fever is the bloody diarrhoea and breaking of the intes- 
tines. The disease is bound to run 3 weeks. Keep 
fever down by sponging the body with alcohol; for 
thirst give ice to suck, remember the treatment of 
Typhoid is one of nursing and diet. Keep the patient 
quiet and allow no visitors in the rooms. 

N. B.— Do not forget that the passages of the bowels 
are catching, and should be passed into a vessel which 
contains a disinfectant. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES. 

Symptoms: — Eyes red, painful, swollen, and light 
hurts them, pain in forehead, water runs from eyes, 
restless feeling. 

Treatment: — Dissolve 1 tablet of Sulphate of Zinc in 
8 teaspoonfuls of water and put 2 drops of this mixture 
in the eye inflamed, twice a day; wash the eyes fre- 
quently with hot water. This treatment will cure nearly 
every eye inflammation; put the medicine into the eye 
with a teaspoon or dropper. 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 37 

INFLAMMATION OF THE EAR. 

Symptoms: — Intense pain in the ear, deafness on the 
diseased side, no outward swelling. If child cries 
suddenly and puts its hand to side of head you can 
always be certain it has earache. 

Treatment: — Ladle hot water into the ear with a table- 
spoon every hour, put it in as hot as it can be borne 
and put in at least 12 tablespoonfuls at a time, put on a 
hot onion poultice when not using water, or blow tobacco 
smoke in the ear. If matter forms and appears, take 
the child to your doctor. 

WORMS. 

Kestds: — There are 21 kinds. We shall take up two, 
only, as they are the ones usually found. The first, or 
round worm, is reddish or reddish-yellow in color, tapers 
at both ends, and looks like the common earth or ' ' angle" 
worm ; they are prone to move from one place to another 
in the intestines, and may be found in the stomach. 
Each female worm lays about 60 million eggs. The 
thread, maw, or pin worm is white, and looks like a 
piece of white sewing thread; they are found in the 
large intestine and the rectum, where they create intoler- 
able itching. Tape worms inhabit the small intestines, 
and will not be treated of more fully, as no one should 
try to doctor themselves for their removal, but should 
go at once to their physician. 

Symptoms: — "When a child is afflicted with Round 
Worms, the face will become flushed and then pale, at 
irregular intervals; color leaden or bluish, lower eye- 
lids swollen, and blue circle around them; thirst, sick 
stomach, vomiting, appetite variable, breath foul, tongue 



38 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

red and covered with points, pulse fast and irregular, 
may have spasms, twitching of muscles, disturbed sleep, 
nightmare, headache, eyes dilated, cross eye, colic, 
grinding teeth in sleep, generally diarrhoea. The symp- 
toms of thread worm are not so pronounced; there is 
less fever, colic and nervous symptoms; the itching of 
the rectum is the most marked and prominent symp- 
toms; the Thread Worm does not kill the patient, the 
Round Worm may. Never give worm medicine till the 
child has passed worms, and you have seen them. 

Treatment: — Give 1 Santonine tablet and 1 Calomel 
tablet dry on the tongue three times a day to child 5 
years old; at night give castor oil, do this once a wees 
till the worms are expelled. If the child vomits the 
Santonine, has trouble in seeing or sees things yellow 
give only i^ tablet of Santonine; you can expel all the 
common worms in this manner without any danger if 
you watch the child's seeing powers. 

TEETHING. 

The first teeth appear at six months, all in at two and 
one-half years. Second teeth commence at two and 
one-half years. When gums are painful have them 
lanced or rub through with some round substance. 
During teething keep the bowels open and child clean; 
always a dangerous period of life for sickly children. 

INFANT FEEDING AND DIET. 

Occasionally a mother is unable to suckle her child, 
and it becomes necessary to bring the child up on the 
bottle. This is always a dangerous period for children, 
as the very best of cow's milk is poor for this purpose 



the a. b. c. of mkdkim:. 39 

>mpared with the mother's milk. Cows which supply 
milk for infants should be kept clean, and have plenty 
of air, food and water, and should never be fed on dis- 
tillery or sugar-house products, neither should they be 
angered, or heated up by fast driving, but should be 
kept in the very best possible manner. 

Milk used for children should not be acid, and a small 
amount of lime-water, should be added to it. To make 
the lime-water, take a piece of un slacked lime as big as 
an egg, put it in a quart of water, let it settle, then 
rack off the clear water, and throw away the thick sedi- 
ment. Put this clear water into a bottle, and when you 
use it, put 1 tablespoonful into 1 quart of milk. Dur- 
hot weather, the milk should be boiled and strained 
before it is fed to the child. For a child under the 
age of three months, for every three teaspoonfuls of 
milk, add 1 teaspoonful of water; after 4 months of age, 
give pure milk; warm it to 98 or 100 degrees before 
giving; a little sugar of milk can be added to the milk; 
dissolve it in water before adding. 60 grains of 
the sugar of milk is enough for ^ pint of milk. Up 
to 4 months nothing but milk should be given, after that 
date a little starchy food may be added. This is best 
given in the form of food for infants found at any drug 
store. Keep the nursing bottle clean, and on no account 
give sugar teats or sweet mixtures to infants. Between 
the ages of 1 and 2 years, a little meat and potato, with 
bread may be given with milk. Do not "stuff or 
starve " your child. 

Dieting children or grown people consists of cutting 
of such food or foods as are hurtful. Do not feed in 
excess, ever; give plain foods, and by plain we mean 
meats, potatoes, bread, milk and a limited amount of 
fresh ripe fruit. Pickles, canned fruits, jellies, pies, 



40 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

spices and cakes come under the head of rich foods, and 
although these will do no harm if taken when the child 
is well, yet are most emphatically bad when given to the 
sick. "Water should be given in just large enough quan- 
tities to quench thirst. Never allow a sick or canva- 
lescent person to eat to excess of even the plainest 
food; it is better to leave the table hungry than to leave 
it sleepy and dull. Abstinence in food is as useful 
and wholesome as abstinence from liquor. 

BATHS. 

In giving a hot bath, commence with the water at 90 
degrees for adults, and 80 to 85 for children ; add hot 
water until the temperature is 105 for adults, 95 to 100 
for children. Wrap a cold cloth around the head and 
keep it cool while in the bath. A bath, to do any good, 
should be kept up for at least 1 hour. Mustard or Salt 
Baths are made by adding Mustard, Common or Sea Salt 
to the water. Keep clean ! 

CONSTIPATION. 

Symptoms: — Inability to have daily passage of the 
bowels, when such inability is due to hardness of the 
matter discharged. 

Treatment: — Give injections. (See article on Injec- 
tions). 

All other conditions are treated, in the different dis- 
eases. 

INJECTION. 

It is quite a scientific undertaking to give a good 
injection. For a common injection for an adult use 1 



Till: A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 41 

quart of tepid water, this should be introduced slowly, 
not in jerks, and after it is all put in, the syringe should 
be removed and the thumb, covered with a piece of cloth 
should hold the water in until the inclination to expel it 
i< marked. In introducing the syringe, oil the nozzle 
well, then put it in very gently, pushing it first a little 
downward then upward toward the bowels; in an adult 
it should go in for from 1*^ to 2 inches, in children from 
i.< to 1 inch; in children from y 2 to 1 pint of water 
should be used according to age; the water should be 
made into soap suds with good castile soap. 

BOILS AND FELONS, 

Symptoms: — Local pain, of a sharp, throbbing and 
knife-like quality; swelling of the part, redness; the red- 
ness is localized, or in one spot, matter forms at a longer 
or shorter interval. 

Treatment for Boils: — Paint them with strong Tinc- 
ture of Iodine, (not in our case, from danger of leakage), 
give 1 tablet of Muriate of Ammonia on the tongue every 
hour to grown person, till 12 have been taken; every 2 
hours for child 1 to 10 years old, until 6 have been taken; 
apply hot Flaxseed poultices, and as soon as the Boil is 
ripe, open it and promote the escape of the matter by 
poultices; keep the bowels open with Castor Oil or Salts. 
Do not eat spiced foods or drink any kind of liquor. 

Treatment for Felons: — Use the Iodine as in Boils, and 
put % lemon, like a glove-finger, over the Felon. 
Have it lanced as soon as possible, and have this done 
even before the matter has completely formed. The 
lance should be put down to the bone. To prevent irri- 
tation from clothing, when boils are not covered by 



42 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

poultices, grease the boil well with Vaseline, and cover 
with cotton batting, held in place by strips of sticking- 
plaster. 

POULTICES AND PLASTERS. 

MUSTARD PLASTERS. 

To make a mustard plaster take 2 tablespoonfuls of 
best ground mustard, put it into a teacup, add 1 tea- 
spoonful of vinegar, rub this well in, then add hot water 
by the teaspoonful until paste is formed, take a piece of 
cloth two inches wider than you want the plaster, and 
twice as long, spread the mustard on evenly over one- 
half of this, leaving a margin of 1 inch at end and 1 inch 
on each side, now fold the clean half like a book cover 
over the mustard which is spread over the other half, 
pin or sew the ends and sides and the plaster is finished. 
When you wish to only have a mild action of the mus- 
tard, or for young children, for each teaspoonful of 
mustard put in 1 teaspoonful of corn meal and leave out 
the vinegar; do not use flour in place of corn meal, as it 
cakes. If a mustard plaster is left on too long it will 
blister. 

TURPENTINE PLASTER. 

To make a Turpentine Stupe or Plaster, fold a piece 
of flannel in several folds, wring it out of hot water, 
sprinkle on 10 or 15 drops of Turpentine, apply to the 
affected spot, and cover with a napkin or towel. Tur- 
pentine will blister if left on too long. 

FLAX-SEED POULTICES. 

To make a Flax-seed Meal Poultice, take 4 or more 
tablespoonfuls of Flax-seed Meal, add water to this, rub 



THE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 49 

Mug or stirring all the time till you have a rather 
thin paste; put this in a pan and bring to a boil; have 
cloth prepared as in mustard plaster; put in the meal, 
making each poultice 1 inch thick for adults; about as 
thick as a book cover for young infants, and between 
these thicknesses for children; make up three, take a 
collander, put it over a kettle of hot water, put the 
poultices in the collander, cover them up, and as fast as one 
cools, draw out the bottom poultice, putting the cool one 
on top of the second one, which will be the next one you 
will use; in this manner, by always drawing out the bot- 
tom one, you will have a hot, moist poultice without 
any trouble. As soon as the poultice smells sour, make 
a new one. Never use poultices after the skin looks 
white and wrinkled, but apply hot, dry cloths and give 
the skin a chance to recover its tone. 

CHARCOAL OR YEAST POULTICES. 

Are made as above, with the exception that Charcoal 
or Brewer's Yeast are added to the Flax-seed. Charcoal 
is used where there is a foul smelling wound or sore, the 
Charcoal should be pounded or ground up fine. 

ACCIDENTS. 

BLEEDING WOUNDS. 

Where the accident results in a bleeding wound, if 
on the legs, feet, arms or hands, and the blood is bright 
red, tie a tight bandage between the body and wound. 
If the blood is dark colored, tie the bandage below the 
wound, or on the side farthest away from the body. 
To draw the bandage tight, put a stick through it and 
twist it up. If the wound is on the body, head or face, 
fold up five or six pieces of cloth in squares a little 



44 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

larger than the cut or wound, put these pieces of cloth 
on, one above another, and tie a tight bandage around 
and over the whole. Before applying these compresses 
as above, put into the wound 1 to 3 tablets of Tincture 
of Iron, according to the size of the wound. If the 
blood comes out in spurts, an artery is cut, and the 
patient will bleed to death very quickly if you delay in 
putting on the bandages. When bones are broken, strip 
off the clothing and put the limbs in as near a natural 
position as possible. Only a physician should treat 
broken bones, and you had better send for one at once. 

FOR BURNS. 

Apply moist clay, or paint the parts with Varnish, 
or dissolve 1 teaspoonful of Baking Powder in a little 
water and paint the burn with this. In every case of 
large burns, put cotton wadding over the whole surface 
to keep out the air. For the pain give an adult 1 Mor- 
phine tablet every half hour, till quiet, then stop. For 
children, dissolve 1 tablet of Morphine in 4 teaspoonfuls 
of water; give ^ teaspoonful every hour to child 1 to 5 
years old ; 1 teaspoonful every hour to child 5 to 10 years 
old till quiet, then stop! 

SUNSTROKE 

Is treated by cold applications to head and body, com- 
plete rest. The collapse is overcome by giving 1 tablet 
of Carbonate of Ammonia in 1 teaspoonful of whisky 
every 10 minutes. 

DROWNING. 

Place the drowned person on his back, roll up 
a coat and put it under the small of the back, 
then get astride the person facing him now bend 



TIIK A. B, C, OF MEDICINE. 45 

down and put your hands around the body one on 
each side about one inch below the nipple, with the 
thumbs on or near the breast bone; now raise up and 
bring the drowned persons body up with you till you 
have raised him about 3 or 4 inches from the ground, 
now let him fall back, you making pressure with your 
thumbs and flat of hand on the chest, still keeping your 
hands at the back and sides of the body. As soon as 
you have with your thumbs and flat of hand expelled all 
the air, count three slowly and go through the same 
motion again. After 18 or 20 times of this, roll the 
patient on his side for a moment to allow the water to 
run from his mouth, then put him on his back again and 
go through the same performance, do this for at least 
two hours before you stop, as life has been saved after 
even longer periods than this. If the drowned person 
begins to gasp and breathe be carefnl not to shut off his 
breath, but help him instead. When breathing is regular 
put the revived person in bed, wrap up with blankets, 
put hot jugs or bricks around him and allow him to go 
to sleep. 

Never get excited under any circustances when there 
is an accident! 

BRUISES. 

Are best treated with cold water, applied often. 
When a sprain occurs put the joint in hot water, and 
keep it there for at least one hour, adding hot water as 
required. 

POISONS AND THEIR ANTIDOTES. 

Poisons may be divided into three general classes: 
Those taken into the stomach by the mouth; those taken 
into the blood through the skin; and those taken into 
the lumrs through the nose and mouth. 



46 OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. 

Poisons taken by the mouth are divided into groups or 
kinds, but all I shall do is to name them and tell you how 
to save the person poisoned. 

ACONITE. 

Symptoms: — Heart beats slower, sweating, urine in- 
creased, eyesight dim, pupils of eyes dilated, tongue and 
breath cold, numbness of hands and feet. 

Antidotes: — Heat, brandy, ammonia; put 5 Carbonate 
of Ammonia tablets in tablespoonful of brandy and give 
every 15 minutes. 

DEADLY NIGHT SHADE — BELLADONNA. 

Symptoms: — Dryness of the throat, blue appearance 
of lips, diarrhoea, weak heart, red rash like scarlet fever, 
dilated pupils, headache, delirium, stupor. 

Antidote: — Vomit the patient and give Opium; this is 
all you can do. 

OPIUM — MORPHINE. 

Symptoms: — Stupor, snoring, loud breathing, con 
tracted pupils, insensibility to pain, cold hands and feet, 
blue lips. 

Antidote: — Brandy, give hot coffee without milk, 
electricity, walking, whipping the patient with wet 
cloths as he is led around, give Belladonna, vomit the 
patient with Sulphate of Zinc. 

ARSENIC. 

Symptoms:— Pain in bowels, vomiting, bloody mucus, 
increase flow of spittle, sickness of the stomach, bloody 
diarrhoea, irritable heart, swelling of eyelids with gen- 
eral swelling of body, limbs, hands and feet; trembling, 
dryness of the mouth, great thirst, bowels drawn in, col- 
lapse. 



THE a. r>. C. OF MEDICINE. 47 

Antidote: — Give Sesquioxide of Iron, 8 grains to each 
grain of Arsenic swallowed. Send for your doctor. 

STRYCHNINE. 

Symptoms: — Shocks or twitching runs through the 
muscles, limbs drawn up, head thrown back during 
Bpasms, which comes on suddenly; the buzzing of a fly, 
or breath of cold air, will throw patient into spasms 
face grins and badly drawn up, foam flies from lips, 
body curves in a bow backward, skin blue, passage of 
water and of bowels, during intervals between spasms, 
patient is conscious, mind is clear until death. 

Antidote: — Yomit the patient and put asleep with 
chloroform. Usually die, no matter what is done. 

MERCURY — CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE. 

Symptoms : — Vomiting of bloody mucus, pain in 
stomach and bowels, cramps, purging, collapse, with 
weak heart and blue skin. 

Antidote: — Wheat flour, white of egg, lime-water 
milk and vomit the patient. 

OXALIC ACID. 

Symptoms: — Death in 10 minutes has resulted from 
a large dose of this poison. Horrible pain in stomach 
and bowels, bloody vomit. Oxalic Acid looks like Ep- 
som Salts. 

Antidote: — Vomit the patient, give lime-water, white, 
of egg, flaxseed tea, flour and starch. 

The second group of poisons are snake and animal 
bites, bee and insect stings. 

Treatment: — Burn out the wound at once with burning 
match or hot iron, tie a tight bandage between the 
wound and body, if on the limbs 



48 OUK FAMILY DOCTOR. 

For snake bites dissolve 12 Carbonate of Ammonia 
tablets in 1 pint of whisky or brandy and drmk it all, 
repeat this till patient is drunk. 

For bee or other stings, apply moist wet clay to the 
sting. 

The third group will include Chloroform, Aether and 
Coal Gas. 

Treatment: — For Chloroform stand the patient on his 
or her head, give Carbonate of Ammonia 12 tablets in % 
pint of whisky and whip the patient with cold wet cloths, 
give artificial respiration or breathing. 

For Aether give the whisky and Carbonate of Am- 
monia, artificial breathing and whipping. 

For Coal Gas, fresh air, artificial breathing and whisky 
as soon as the patient can swallow. 

HINTS FOR THE SICK ROOM. 

Never whisper or talk loud, wear slippers, and clothes 
that do not crackle. Keep the room clean and well ven- 
tilated; to ventilate a room, open the top of the window, 
now take a board about 8 inches wide, that will just fit 
between the sides of the window at the bottom, raise the 
lower sash 6 inches, put this board up, leaving 1 inch 
space between it and the window proper ; in this way air 
can enter the room without creating a draught. Never 
bring a large quantity of food to a sick person; it is bet- 
ter to make three trips to the kitchen than to sicken your 
patient; put the food on a tray and serve as daintily as 
you can, treat your sick as if they were honored guests, 
and get out your prettiest dishes. Make the sick-room. 
as cheerful as you can, remove all birds and animals; 
keep the house quiet; have all flights shaded; do not 



TIIE A. B. C. OF MEDICINE. 49 

leave medicines where the patient can get at them; you 
cannot always tell what might happen if you let a sick 
person "dose" himself. 

Humor the delusions of the sick, be firm but never 
scold or find fault or tell how tired you are, don't talk 
about the patient in his or her hearing, never go outside 
the door with the doctor ; prepare the medicines where 
the patient can see you, but not what you are doing, in 
other words, turn your back; allow no visitors in the 
room, change the pillows often, keep the bed clean, wash 
the face and hands of the sick often, don't allow your 
own to smell of the cooking or anything else. Don't 
fuss around the room; when you have anything to do, 
do it, and then sit down; don't take your sewing into the 
room, as it will drive some people into a fever, be kind, 
be careful and do just as the doctor tells you to, don't 
know too much. 



OUR HOUSEHOLD MEDICINE CASE 

Contains the following Medicines: 

EACH TABLET CONTAINS: 

1 Aconite, 1 drop 

2 Bromide of Potash, - - - 5 grains 

3 Belladonna, U drop 

4 Ipecac, - - - - - l| grain 

5 Calomel, - - - - 1-10 grain 

6 Carbonate of Bismuth, - - - 1 grain 

7 Carbonate of Ammonia, - - 1 grain 

8 Cathartic Pills, - - - Vegetable 

9 Chlorate of Potash, - - 1 grain 

10 Digitalis, - - - - 2 drops 

11 Morphine, - 1-12 grain 

12 Muriate of Ammonia, - - - 1 grain 

13 Opium, 14 grain 

14 Quinine Pills, - - - - 1 grain 

15 Sulphur, 2 grains 

16 Santonine, - - - - M grain 

17 Sulphate of Zinc, 1 grain 

18 Tincture of Iron, - - - 5 drops 

Any bottle in this case re- 
Tv 1 j r j in nir i ■ ■ ¥ filled by us for 15 cts., and 

Don t get out of Medicine »»s«i 

\J of order accompanied by 

the cash 

Full directions for treating any of the common diseases with 
the above Medicines, will be found in "OUR FAMILY DOCTOR," 
which accompanies this case. The Medicines are measured and 
compounded with scientific accuracy, and are of the very first 
quality, and strictly pure, as the following affidavit shows: 

Offices of Frederick Stearns & Co., J 
Detroit, Mich., U. S. A. f 

Frederick K. Stearns, President of the corporation of Fred- 
erick Stearns & Co., being duly sworn, deposes and says that the 
said corporation do a manufacturing business in the city of 
Detroit, and State of Michigan, and that they put up and furnish 
by contract the medicines used by the Detroit Medicine Com- 
pany of said city and State, and sold by the said last named 
company, by subscription, in a package known as " Our House- 
hold Medicine Case," and that the said medicines are made 
from strictly pure drugs, and are of the best quality in every 
respect. (Signed) Frederick K. Stearns. 

Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me, a Notary Public, 
in and for the County of Wayne and State of Michigan, this 12th 
day of July, A D. 1887. M. L. Dunning, 

Notary Public, Wayne Co., Mich. 

f A TTTTOTT f We will De responsible only for the use of the -e medi- 
WAUJL1U1N I cines according to directions. Detroit Medicine Co 






TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Accidents 43 

Ague 33 

Author's Introduction 7 

Antidotes (See Poisons) 45 

Baths 40 

Bilious Fever (See Remittent Fever) 34 

Bloody Flux (See Dysentery) 31 

Boils 41 

Brain, Congestion of 28 

Breathing, (See Respiration) 11 

Bronchitis 11 

Cerebro-Spinal Fever (See Spotted Fever) 27 

Chicken Pox 17 

Cholera Infantum 29 

Cholera Morbus 30 

Colds .15 

Congestion of Brain 28 

Constipation 40 

Convulsion- (See Spasm) 27 

Croup, Trie ...24 

Croup, False 24 

Diarrhcea 31 

Diet, Infant . . .38 

Diphtheria 22 

Dysentery (See Bloody Flux) 3 . 

Ear, Inflammation of 37 

Erysipelas. (See Rose, also Saint Anthony's Fire) 21 

(51) 



52 TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Eye, Inflammation of 30 

False Croup 

Feeding Infant . . 38 

Felon 41 

Fever and Ague 

Fever, Lung (See Pneumonia) 12 

Fever, Remittent (See Bilious Fever) 

Fever, Scarlet (See Scarlatina) 17 

Fever, Typhoid 35 

German Measles (See Rotheln) 20 

Healthy Condition (See Normal Condition) 11 

Hints For Sick Room 48 

Hooping Cough (See Whooping Cough) 

Infant Feeding 

Infantum, Cholera 28 

Inflammation of Ear 37 

Inflammation of Eye 

Injection 40 

Intermittent Fever (See Ague) 33 

Lung Fever (See Pneumonia) 12 

Measles 19 

Measles, German (See Rotheln) 20 

Mumps 26 

Neuralgia 28 

Normal or Healthy Condition 11 

" Our Household Medicine Case " 50 

Plasters 42 

Pleurisy 14 

Pneumonia (See Lung Fever) 12 

Pneumonia, Catarrhal 12 

Pneumonia, Croupous 13 

Poisons and their Antidotes 45 

Poultices 42 

Publishers 1 Preface 3 

Quinsy (See Tonsillitis) 23 

Respiration (See Breathing) 11 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 53 

in ^--Erysipelas) 21 

Bn vthbln iSee German Measles) 20 

Rheumatism 29 

Saint Anthony's Fire (See Erysipelas) 21 

Scarlet Fever (See Scarlatina) 17 

Sick Room, Hints for the 48 

Small Pox (See Variola) 15 

Sore Throat 24 

Spasms (See Convulsions) 27 

Special Notice « 

Spotted Fever (See Cerebo-Spinal Fever). 27 

Sprue (See Thrush) 32 

Teething 38 

Throat, Sore 24 

Thrush (See Sprue) 32 

Tonsillitis (See Quinsy) 23 

True Croup 24 

Typhoid Fever 35 

Variola . . 15 

Whooping Cough 25 

Worms 37 



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